10k YouTube Subscribers: How’d we get here?

This post loosely accompanies Gab & Jam, 10k YouTube Subs: How’d we get here?

(video: https://bit.ly/23010ksubsvid and podcast: https://bit.ly/23010ksubspod )

This is how it all started….

So, when we started, a friend of ours had a YouTube channel and had 10k subscribers–but he had started in 2011–but STILL, we looked at the videos that he made and the engagement that he had and chose that as our goal. We were thinking that it MUST be attainable to grow by pretty much just showing up pretty regularly without any sponsors and without terribly splashy videos and with no celebrities featured on our channel. –His channel focuses on bass guitar-related reviews. –We figured if we just put our videos out and at least TRIED to shout about it from some rooftops (like on social media), we SHOULD be able to get there. –THAT was in 2017. And we had 137 subscribers…..😳😬

The little engine that could….

So, it was about 5 years ago that we started posting videos, which early on, were scattered between live performance covers and unboxings, mostly. It was in August 2017 that we started Gab & Jam. Having a regularly-scheduled talk show/podcast to prepare for set us up to be where we are now.

Fast forward…

To-date, we are at 230+ episodes and just last week, we hit that 10,000 subscriber mark! 💥 😳 🙌🏾 It was thrilling to hit that goal, so we thought we’d TRY to figure out what it was that got us here.

As you know, we try to be completely transparent with you, which is why we have to tell you that we don’t actually KNOW what the magic bullet was to get us to 10k, but these are the things we THINK contributed:

1. Consistency

We have been at it for a little over 5 years now; in fact, August 2017 was our first official Gab & Jam episode (https://bit.ly/1musicaldisc1vid ). And we post weekly, pretty much without fail—and post even MORE during our blog/podcast challenges (see the latest one here). So, we are PRETTY certain that posting regularly for such a prolonged period of time helped the algorithm (as we assume it does with MOST social media platforms).

Here's why you should be on more than one social media platform at a time https://bit.ly/Ep141moresocmedblog

2. Shorts

Along with that consistency of a post a week, we’ve added another couple of videos to our channel each week in the form of “shirts.” Our son approached us with a plan to help us grow our subscribers /follower counts on TikTok, on Instagram, and on YouTube by helping create short videos from our regular content and posting that alongside of our regular content. He explained to us that we were not taking advantage of the additional reach that these platforms are giving to this new type of video format and so, for a small monthly fee, he has been helping to provide that for these channels; his past 3 months; adding Shorts to our YouTube, more clips to TikTok, and adding Reels on Instagram. (If you are interested in contacting him for that, his email is cahenderson45@gmail.com.)

Here's a little history of me going down YouTube rabbit hole http://bit.ly/youtubefrenzy

3. “Happy accidents 😬”

Also, I think we may have benefited from what I am calling a “happy accident.” What I mean is that we’ve been getting plays every day on our 19 Goals for 2019 video (http://bit.ly/19for2019vid ). When I FINALLY checked the analytics, I realized that folks who are clicking on the link have searched Google for the term “Gab2019.” Once I Googled that term myself, I found that it is related to an annual event that takes place in India. 😳🤷🏽‍♀️😬 So, while they may NOT be too happy at seeing our lovely mugs when they get there, this playlist mistake is helping to drive up traffic to our YouTube channel…. 😳🤷🏽‍♀️😬 —Hey, we’re NOT going to turn down free traffic, so…. 😬 But THIS may be helping YouTube share our content more, which could lead to more views, and, yes, ultimately to more subscribers. 🤷🏽‍♀️🙌🏾😳

Should you ever play for free? https://bit.ly/214playfreeblog

4. Ads

So, as you might recall, we participated in a pretty pricey artist mentoring program (https://bit.ly/217artistmentorrevealblog ). Part of what they did for us was to set up a marketing funnel (to gather fans of our band, Bourgeoisie Paper Jam) (https://bit.ly/SugarFitlanding ). The bottom line is that the Facebook ads we run to this funnel brings folks to us every day and one of the options for them to listen to our music is through YouTube–since it’s free to anyone with a Google account and doesn’t require any logging in. –The point is that, at MINIMUM, 6+ folks head over there each day and may listen/watch more than one video, trying to decide if they want to join our Street Team (https://bit.ly/BPJstreetteam ). We think that might be one reason that our channel grew to 10k subscribers.

Here are some Social Media Marketing tips (for the D.I.Y. Rock Star): https://bit.ly/socmediablog

5. Social media marketing

Another possible contributor to our channel’s growth is also likely due to social media posting. What I mean is that every time we publish a video, we create a post with an explanation, a graphic, and the bitly links, so that we can get as many eyes on it in the first day or two. Not only do I share it as a post in as many of our 35+ social media as I can stand to get to that day (see THIS for more on the various social media platforms we are on), but Bruce also reposts whatever I post on his profile, so that we double our efforts. Sometimes, these posts get NO clicks, but more often than not lately, in the first day, we get anywhere from 10 to 30 clicks between our different platforms, leading folks back to YouTube. –Again, having as many clicks through to YouTube in the first 24 hours is the way to “spike” the algorithm–by demonstrating that when we publish a video, there are folks who pounce on it on several different social media platforms. In turn, this encourages YouTube to also share the video to more people, since it says to YouTube that this is content that people are interested in. So, that’s yet another way to encourage more engagement and then more subscribers to join our fold.

Come, share your music on our Pinterest group board! https://bit.ly/sharemusicboard

6. Posting in groups

So, this piggybacks on the last technique, but not only do I post in our own Facebook groups (including our very own Be the Next D.I.Y. Rock Star (add link)), but we also share it to as many pertinent peer-friendly groups for whatever type of post it is. (So, for instance, if we discuss songwriting in an episode, we share it to songwriter groups that allow you to share. –When we started, the shares were most on Facebook, but over the years, we have added shares to Pinterest groups (THIS is ours) and, within the last month or so, when we post on LinkedIn, LinkedIn has started asking if we would like to share that same post to one of the few groups that we are a part of. 😳💁🏾😬 I didn’t know we could DO that, so that’s a bonus! 💥 So, I have YET to check the stats, but WHATEVER we get there is a win-win, since, up until just recently, it was not something that we did. So, hell yeah! Take advantage of shit like that! 🙌🏾 –And we want you to look for opportunities like that too!

Here are 9 tips for collaborating better: https://bit.ly/Ep163collaborateblog

The bottom line…

No, we’re NOT geniuses. So, THAT should be encouraging to you, if you HAVEN’T cracked that 10k subscribers figure yet. Maybe take a look back at this list to see what YOU can implement. Or look for ways that we haven’t even THOUGHT of yet! –And when you do, leave a comment on this post sharing that tip for folks reading. We’d LOVE to hear which tips you might try next.

Not incidentally, we’ve just begun taking the same approach to our blog posts and are starting to see growth. We’ll be sure to report back and let you know if it works.

#YouTubegrowth #10ksubs #diyrockstar #prejippie #bloomingprejippie